As Jak was stabling the horses behind the Big Elm Inn at Hellstone, he couldn’t help but look out at the gigantic rock that gave the village its name. It was a rather curious thing, and he had never seen anything like it before, but then again, he had not traveled anywhere outside of Hlifglynn in his life before now. There were a great many things he had never seen before. His curiosity got the best of him and he asked Benjim if he knew anything about the large stone sitting to the east of the village.
“Legend has it, that in the time before time, when the gods and devils fought for possession of all the land, there arose a mighty devil, bigger and stronger than all the others. This devil had ambitions to rule all things, both in heaven and on earth, so he hurled a giant boulder from the depths of hell at the heavens in an attempt to crush the gods. Instead of crushing the gods, the boulder fell back to the earth, landing right on the devil, and thereby crushing him beneath it, hence the name Hellstone.” The old man chuckled at the end.
“Did you just make that up?” Jak asked suspiciously.
“Oh no my boy, the legend of Hellstone is even older than I am, and that is saying a lot,” the old man smiled again before he headed towards the inn.
The horses had been put in the stables, and Jak belongings were given to the attendants to be taken to his room. So he was finally able to sit down to eat a good hot dinner. It seemed like forever since he had a good hot meal, and he was looking forward to it as his stomach grumbled in anticipation. But then again, he had been feeling that way quite often lately. He missed his mother’s home cooked meals. The thought of her threatened to dredge up painful memories, so he squashed them quickly and tried to take his mind of it by looking around the common room.
While he was waiting, Jak noticed the innkeeper and some of their help glaring suspiciously in his direction. But then it occurred to him, that he was in a rather odd traveling party after all, and perhaps the villagers were just trying to figure them out. In any event, he didn’t really care at the moment since he just wanted to eat a good meal and go to bed. He was almost looking forward to the bed, and a good night’s sleep more than the food.
The innkeeper hesitantly approached their table to tell them that their things were in their rooms. He also gave them instructions as to which rooms were theirs for the night since the inn was fairly large.
“How have things been here lately?” Benjim asked the innkeeper in his friendly way, “Everyone seems a little on edge, has something out of the ordinary happened here recently?” Apparently, the old man had noticed the strange, suspicious looks from the innkeeper and his staff as well.
The innkeeper looked on the verge of ignoring the old man and walking away, but paused for a moment before turning back to Benjim and answering, “Well, it’s been strange goings on here for the past week or two as near as I can recall. More than a week ago now, can’t recollect exactly how long ago…… but it seems about a week, there was a young girl came through. She was awful full of herself, that’s for sure. Seemed a bit young to be traveling alone, not more than sixteen or seventeen, I’d say. But that wasn’t the troubling thing; she started asking questions, all sly like. But her questions were ones she shouldn’t be asking. She was trying to stir up trouble she was. I was glad when she left the next day. I didn’t want her staying here any longer. People were starting to talk. Saying she was one of them dark witches or something. I don’t know maybe she was, and maybe she wasn’t. But she shouldn’t of been asking questions like that.”
The innkeeper paused for a breath before continuing, “Then a few days back a young fellow came riding through here. Nothing usual about that except that he was riding like he had hell-hounds on his trail. Was in an awful big hurry he was. His horse was darn near dead on its feet, the poor thing. It was all lathered up, and breathing hard, and looked as if it would keel over any minute. We told him as much, since he didn’t seem to see it for himself. But then, he wanted us to give him a new horse. Hmph, he didn’t have any money to buy one he said, not that we have many spare horses for sale anyhow. But whoever he was carrying a message for was supposed to be real important. Said she would reward anyone who helped him.
Well of course we didn’t just give him a horse. Folks around here aren’t that well-to-do to just be giving out horses. But I did tell him he could sleep in the barn for the night, since he didn’t have any money, and should be letting his horse rest. He didn’t want to bed down in the barn at first. Said he needed to keep going. But then after a bit he up and changed his mind.
Found out why a little while later when he stole old Braken’s horse out of the stable and took off. We would have sent men after him to bring him back, but old Braken called them off. Since the thief had left his buckskin gelding, Braken just took it and called it an even trade. After all, the buckskin was younger and better than the one he lost. So he said there was no reason to waste the time runnin’ after the strange fellow”
“Is it not fairly common for you to get strangers through here often?” Benjim asked.
“Sure we do, on occasion at least. But these we’ve had lately were a little stranger than usual, if you know what I mean.” The innkeeper eyed the four at the table sideways for a moment before continuing, “We don’t get too many horse thieves around here often neither. It all just sets folks on edge a bit.
That’s not all though,” the innkeeper said glancing around the room nervously. “The past few nights some of our sheep have been turning up dead. They were torn apart like some wild animal attacked them. We don’t get too many wolves here this far from the mountains. Besides, from what I hear they usually don’t make that big a mess either. This looked like something big killed them sheep. Didn’t really eat too much of them neither, just tore them apart and left them there. Well, the one’s we found anyways. Seems like a few of the sheep are just…..gone, disappeared, and no one can find them. Willum swears he saw some big black shadows stalking about last night near the edge of town. Me, I just think folks are getting too worked up and letting their imaginations get the best of them.”
A chill pour over Jak like someone had upended a bucket of cold water on him and he immediate though of the graywraiths. Could they have made it this far south? But if they did why would they attack sheep and not the people? It didn’t make a lot of sense. Besides, the graywraiths had not really looked like shadows exactly. Jak dismissed the thought since it was probably just his fear of the soul stealers getting the best of him.
“Then you show up,” the innkeeper continued as he ran a wary eye over the people at the table, “you aren’t exactly the typical traveling party now are you? I’m just saying…folks are on edge, and suspicious of strangers these days. Just you watch yourself now,” with that warning the innkeeper abruptly turned and walked off, eager to be away from them.
For a man who didn’t seem to want to talk much the innkeeper had gone on for quite some time. Jak suspected he was normally a fairly friendly and talkative man. If not for the series of strange events, they would most likely be hard pressed to get rid of the innkeeper. It seemed now however, that the strange events had overcome his talkative nature, and he was eager to be away from the strangers.
Jak and the others continued to eat their dinner in silence. After a few moments two villagers walked through the doors to the inn and took up seats at the bar, calling for ale from the barkeep. Jak was sitting at the table such that he was facing the bar and the two men who just arrived. Nicoldani was sitting directly across from Jak with his back to the newcomers.
Jak noticed that the two men kept casting glances over their shoulders towards him and his friends. The looks of the two men were apprehensive and suspicious of the strangers at the table. They were leaning close together and talking low as to not be overheard. Occasionally they would ask the barkeep questions, before peering back over their shoulders at Jak and the others. The men seemed excessively agitated and unsettled by the strangers at the table. Jak leaned casually over the table and whispered t
o Nicoldani, “Those two men at the bar keep staring at us.”
“I know they are, just ignore them,” the big man said without looking up from his plate of food.
Moments passed, and four more of the local men walked through the door and joined the two already at the bar. They were all drinking ale and talking softly with each other. Finally, two more men came in and joined the others at the bar. With the added men, they started to get louder and bolder in their words on account of their increased numbers, along with all the ale they were drinking. They weren’t even attempting to hide their glares now, and Jak could overhear words on occasion like, strangers…do something…black magic....need to get rid of them.
Benjim, without raising his head from his plate of food, spoke softly, “There is going to be trouble before long. I think it would be best if we just retire to our rooms now before things get any worse.”
Everyone at the table agreed, but before they had a chance to leave one of the men from the bar walked over to stand between where Nicoldani and Gin were sitting. The newcomer was a big man, and had large well-muscled arms, presumably from hard labor. The man’s head was bald, but he wore a full well trimmed beard. It looked as if he had shaved his head bald intentionally since there was a faint shadow of stubble covering his scalp. The man was sweaty, and his clothes had dirt stains on the front and sleeves. He wore his shirt half-unlaced exposing a hairy, muscular chest, with skin sun-darkened from days in the sun. He wore a long dagger at his belt, and looked as if he wasn’t afraid to use it.
Jak realized the man had placed himself in that location intentionally to block Nicoldani’s sword arm. Nicoldani would not be able to draw his sword without moving to the side and back, giving the man standing an advantage if trouble broke out.
Three of the men at the bar had stood, and were now facing the table where Jak and his friends sat. Two had swords at their hip, and one a long curved dagger. The three men were not advancing, and had not drawn their weapons…yet. But they were poised to move quickly if the need arose.
“What business do you have here in Hellstone?” The large man asked contemptuously as he turned and spat a dark liquid onto the floor.
“We are just passing through,” Benjim said mildly, but at the same time Nicoldani said, “What business is it of yours what we do?”
The old man rolled his eyes in consternation since he was trying to diffuse the situation, and Nicoldani was making it worse. Nicoldani would never make a living as a negotiator.
The large man stopped his chewing, and put on a sour look as he turned to regard Nicoldani. He was obviously accustomed to people being intimidated by him because of his size, and was surprised at being spoken to in this manner. The man stood there a moment longer glaring at Nicoldani with no hint of fear in his eyes. After all, it was easy to be brave when you had seven more of your friends to back you up.
Finally the big man spoke again with a baleful look for Nicoldani, “Strange thing….our sheep start dying, getting ripped apart for no reason, and then you show up. We think you might be playing at the black magic or something. We think you might be in league with the witches. One of them witches was through here not long back, trying to stir up trouble. We think maybe you are killing our sheep in some evil rites for the witches.”
“That is absurd,” Benjim said incredulously, before moderating his tone. “We just arrived, a short time ago, and are only passing through. We do not seek any trouble.” The old man finished in a soothing tone, and wearing a warm grandfatherly smile.
The man ignored Benjim, and turned and spat again before continuing, “Then you got this here little girl with you. Did you decide sheep weren’t enough any more? Did you decide to move on to little girls instead?” The man said as he placed his hand on Gin’s head stroking her hair in a far too familiar way. Gin jerked out from underneath the big man’s hand and gave him a defiant look, but thankfully, she didn’t say anything. The situation was volatile enough as it was without her adding to it.
But Jak couldn’t hold his tongue and longer, “What?” He exclaimed in astonishment, “She is my sister.” Jak tried to compose himself, but glared flatly at the man across the table before saying in an icy tone, “she is my sister, keep your filthy hands off of her.”
“Is that so?” the man said, laughing raucously before returning Jak’s defiant glare. Then he turned to spit again. “Pretty big talk from a little man, what are you going to do about it?”
It was one thing, this man trying to bully them, but if he was threatening Gin, then the man was making a fatal mistake. The man continued glaring at Jak, but when Jak wouldn’t drop his gaze or respond to his prodding, the hairy-chested man finally said, “Whatever……we just don’t want you here no more.”
“We were just leaving for our rooms,” Benjim said with a pleasant smile.
“You don’t get it old man, we want you gone … you need to leave town…now! That is unless you want us to make you leave?” The stranger said threateningly, his fingers clinching as he took a small step to one side.
Before Jak had time to even think, the man had snatched Gin from her chair and was seizing her in one arm, with a knife in his other hand. “But we’ll be keeping the girl for you,” the man said with a wicked smile.
The man had made a serious mistake by not holding the knife to Gin’s throat. Instead, he was waving it threateningly out in front of him, and pointing it at Jak and the rest of the men at the table. Faster than Jak would have dreamed such a big man could move, Nicoldani was on his feet, grasping the other man’s knife hand, and twisting his arm around like a limp piece of rope.
The man cried out in pain as bones snapped and cracked under Nicoldani’s grasp. The knife fell to the floor from the other man’s now useless hand, and Nicoldani shoved him hard to the floor. Gin broke free and ran to throw her arms around Jak’ neck for protection.
The three men at the bar responded by drawing their weapons, and starting forward towards the fray, but before they even made it halfway across the intervening space to the table, Nicoldani had his sword in hand and had reached them first.
The beauty and grace of Nicoldani’s movements were a striking contrast to the blood that spurted and flowed from the wounds that he dealt to the three men.
Jak was still sitting at the table, too entranced by the artistic, almost elegant way that Nicoldani sliced his way through the three would-be attackers. Nicoldani did not actually slay any of them, only wounded them sufficiently to render them impotent to the fight. However, the blood that flowed began to make Jak’s thirst rise within him, and he wanted to drink the spilt blood, and lap it up from the floor.
The first large man who started the fight was now groping on the floor trying to pick up the knife he had dropped. He was finally able to grasp it with his one good hand, before lunging at Nicoldani’s back.
Jak tried to call out to Nicoldani to warn him but before he could utter a sound it was too late. In a blur, Nicoldani sensing the impending attack, spun with his sword extended, and the other man’s weight carried him onto the blade. The man’s eyes bulged with shock and surprise before he toppled backwards, sliding off the blade of Nicoldani’s sword to land on the floor. His chest heaved as he rasping a few gurgling last breaths then he stopped moving.
Everyone in the room stared in stunned silence for a moment before the remaining men at the bar bolted towards the door. It seemed they had lost their appetite for fighting, and were now more interested in running away.
Nicoldani turned and said sternly, “We don’t have much time. We need to get our things from the rooms and be gone before those men come back with more of the townsfolk. They will be back as soon as they can gather enough people.”
Jak didn’t need to be told twice, he along with the others collected their belongings as quickly as they could, and ran out the door towards the stables where their horses were kept. Unfortunately, Jak was a little too slow since he had stopped to help Gin with her things.
&n
bsp; As he burst through the doors and entered the street, he was greeted by shouts and curses that could be heard coming from further down the street. He and the others wouldn’t be able to get to the horses, and get clear before the approaching villagers were upon them. He noticed that Nicoldani had stopped, and was facing the oncoming angry crowd. The big man gave Jak a shove in the direction of the stables. “Go, Go get the horses I will hold them off. Hurry!”
Jak spotted Benjim and Gin who were already halfway to the stables. He turned back towards Nicoldani, to see the angry crowd was almost upon the big man. There were too many of them, he thought. Nicoldani was extraordinarily good with his sword, but Jak didn’t think there was any way the big man could hold off this many angry villagers by himself. The sheer numbers would overpower even Nicoldani.
Nicoldani braced himself for the assault from the oncoming mob. Jak hesitated only a moment before turning and rushing headlong into the crowd of oncoming villagers, knocking them flying and tumbling to the ground. Jak had hit the first man in the crowd with such force that the man lay on the ground, his body twisted and unmoving.
Jak quickly leapt to his feet with his dagger in hand. It was the dagger he had gotten from the dead mordji in the cave where the witch had been. He didn’t even remember drawing the blade from his belt but it was in his hand now all the same.
He cut and slashed his way through the villagers, who were all the while trying to kill him. As he fought, he could hear the clash of steel on steel behind him as Nicoldani struggled with foes of his own.
Jak was not nearly as good at fighting as Nicoldani, and as a result was taking many wounds and cuts, but he somehow knew that his wounds didn’t really matter much. Nevertheless, despite the injuries he was taking, most of the men around him now lay on the ground either dead or dying.
Nicoldani was struggling with twice the number of men as had gathered around Jak. But now Jak heard more shouting, and saw many more villagers rushing down the street in the direction of the fray. He glanced at Nicoldani who so far was still holding his own against the impossible odds. But he and Nicoldani needed to somehow get out of here. There were too many villagers to overcome, and if they continued this way, it would be him and Nicoldani who would be overcome, and be killed in the end.
The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) Page 26